KUALA LUMPUR – Refugee women are often marginalised from mainstream communities due to their status as outsiders, which discourages interaction and engagement. However, a unique grassroots initiative aims to change that.
In January, the Akar Umbi Development Society (AUDS), a local NGO, designed the Azalea Initiative leadership programme, embodying the qualities of strength and leadership that refugee women in Malaysia could aspire for.
Why was the azalea, a colourful flowering shrub, chosen as a symbol for the women refugee leadership programme?
For AUDS, the organiser of the initiative, azaleas symbolise remembrance of home and a desire to one day return – a feeling most refugee women express. To return to their own countries, but more skilled and resilient to withstand the challenges of the future.
The azalea represents family and familial duty balanced against feminine beauty and abundance of wealth. These qualities were the essence of what the Azalea Initiative was all about.
Kevin Thomas, storyteller for the Azalea Initiative, who works at AUDS, said that once the women regain their sense of identity and self-confidence, they can develop their own inner potential and be role models for their communities.
The half-day milestone event held recently for 12 refugee women leaders from the Somalian, Pakistani, Hazara Afghanistan, and the Kachin Jinghpaw and Rvwang communities from Myanmar is to consolidate and support the seven-month leadership initiative, said Thomas.
“The next stage is to provide a platform for the execution of those ideas – in this case, seed funding for a project initiative, within their communities, to generate income and engagement for the long-term good of their communities,” he added.
“Many of them fled their own countries and are today registered under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, but the women refugees want to contribute to their own communities.
“The women feel disengaged from the mainstream mainly due to their lack of legal status, but with this initiative, we hope to jumpstart the opportunities available to them,” he said.
Programme director Wong Chen Li said that funding from the International Detention Coalition (IDC) makes it possible for the Azalea Initiative to become reality. Wong has spent the last six months discussing various modules on leadership with the 12 nominees of the programme.
IDC consists of a network of 400 organisations, made up of groups and individuals based in 100 countries, who advocate to secure the human rights of people impacted by or at risk of immigration detention.
Many of the refugee women admitted to surviving difficult and challenging situations but now they felt the time was right to bring about change in their own communities.
It was time to change not only their future but create new pathways for the women in their community.
Refugee women and why they chose the Azalea Initiative
For some of the women who are celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri or Eid, as it is known in their own countries, the festival this year is brightened in a way due to the hope offered by this new initiative.
“The reason why I joined is because I wanted to know and connect with more women from other refugee communities,” said Abeera (not her real name) from the Somali refugee community.
“I also wanted to learn different kinds of skills that could contribute to my self-development.”
Abeera said encouraging refugee women should happen from the bottom-up and not from top-down, and this was exactly what the Azalea Initiative was intended to achieve.
“The idea is to focus on building the women through their projects and once they succeed, other women within the community would feel empowered to follow suit.
“This is the recipe for building strong and resilient refugee communities,” said Abeera, who hopes the initiative will be a success for other refugee women to emulate.
Fereshta (not her real name) from the Afghan community, who has high hopes for the initiative, said many others are afraid to come out of their comfort zones.
“We need self-confidence. I will share this with the other women who are not confident in themselves, who are not proud of themselves, who think lowly of themselves.
“I’ll try to support them as much as I can and let them know they too have talent within themselves,” added Fereshta.
Why education is important for refugee women
Deborah Henry, a former model and beauty queen who represented Malaysia in international-level beauty competitions, left her career in modelling to champion the lives of refugees through education.
Henry, who was crowned Miss Universe Malaysia in 2011, co-founded Fugee School, a non-profit charity organisation dedicated to the education of refugee children.
She believes it is important to create opportunities for women to develop their skill sets.
“But from what I’ve seen, not only is it important for them to develop their own individualised projects, but they must have access to other new marketplaces and not just be isolated within their own communities.
“They must be given opportunities to interact outside of their communities so they can develop better skill sets, being exposed to local communities and their practices,” she said.
Deborah said women, especially refugee women are more vulnerable, and need to be educated and empowered before they can be successful.
Yee Yoke Leong, deputy chair for the Afghan Refugee Project at the Rotary Club of Bukit Kiara Sunrise, said the club has spent much time and effort working with the Afghan refugee community, especially the women.
“There is an upcoming project, where we intend to apply for a global grant, which gives special emphasis to empowering the Afghan refugee women in sustainable areas such as language classes and teacher training,” said Yee, who believes education is an integral aspect towards improving their prospects for the future. – The Vibes, May 4, 2022
